


King Of The Ocean

by FlygonAltaria



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Drowning, Kyogre!Archie, M/M, hardenshipping - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-05-12 15:14:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19231687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlygonAltaria/pseuds/FlygonAltaria
Summary: Maxie never told anyone what the orbs really did. As far as anyone else knew, they awakened Kyogre and Groudon, and that was it. That was all he told his admins, and all he wrote in his notes.He never expected Archie to actually try to capture the king of the ocean.





	1. The King Of The Ocean

No no no no no!

Maxie was running through the cave, flying past Aqua grunts who were immediately challenged by the Magma grunts following closely behind. Even in the underwater cave, Maxie could hear the raging storm pick up speed.

Please don’t be too late!

He saw Shelly standing outside of the main room, and half expected that he’d have to push his way through her, but was pleasantly surprised when she not only let him pass unchallenged, but yelled out “You’ve got to stop him!” Maxie was panting too hard to answer, so he waved to let her know he heard her. 

Finally in the main room, Maxie had to stop for breath. He saw Archie standing in front of a pool of water, the glowing orb in his hand, and right in front of him… Kyogre. 

The thing was huge. The biggest fish he had ever seen. It was glowing, and Maxie could feel the power pulses emanating from it. But despite all that, Maxie was more afraid for Archie than he was of the legendary creature in front of him.

Archie was standing completely still. It was like there was no life in him at all. Like he was a statue made of flesh and blood. “Archie?” No reaction.

Maxie walked up to him and put his arm on his shoulder. Still nothing. Archie was staring straight ahead at nothing, not answering anything.

This is bad.

Maxie ran his hands through his hair, debating what to do. There were a lot of things that Archie didn’t know about the orbs and the legendary pokemon. Information that Maxie hadn’t even let his own admins know.

The orbs let you absorb the power of Kyogre and Groudon.

Maxie had been trying to find a way to absorb Groudon’s power without dying. Any instance he had found of someone trying to absorb the power had ended with the death of the person trying. 

And here Archie was, holding the orb, unknowingly absorbing Kyogre’s power. How long had he been standing there? How long did people usually last? They never said, in any of the notes that Maxie had read.

“Archie, come on, you’ve got to stop.” Still nothing. Maxie tugged his hair again. What would happen if he took the orb from Archie? Could he take it and throw it before he would start absorbing the power? It obviously left you in some kind of trance. And what would happen to Archie? Would he be fine? Or would splitting the link kill him?

“Archie, you idiot!” In all the years they had known each other, Archie had never managed to get Maxie as angry and panicked as he was right now.

Maxie let all of his pokemon out of their balls, deciding that the best course of action right now would be to weaken Kyogre. With a few short words, his team began hitting Kyogre with all they had.

Kyogre didn’t even seem to notice.

Either that, or it couldn’t do anything while it was linked with someone. 

Maxie pulled Archie’s poke balls off of his belt and let his pokemon go as well. They were confused for a moment, growling at Maxie before seeing the battle. They were about to attack Maxie’s team when he jumped in front of them.

“Woah woah woah! I get that you normally fight me, and that Archie’s whole goal was to awaken Kyogre, but that’s obviously backfired!” Maxie gestured towards Archie, and seeing their trainer frozen in place made them stop. “We need to weaken Kyogre before it kills him. Then you can try to beat my team and I.”

They looked indecisively at each other, unsure if they wanted to trust Maxie or not. Camerupt called out to Sharpedo, and after a few words, Sharpedo commanded to team to help fight Kyogre. Maxie was never more glad that Sharpedo and Camerupt used to hang out before they had formed the teams. 

With that out of the way, Maxie returned to Archie. He was slightly shaking now, and breathing heavy. “Archie? Can you hear me?” 

A powerful hit landed on Kyogre, and as it hissed in pain and anger, Archie gasped.

Was that good? That had to be good, right?

“Hey,” Maxie stepped in front of Archie, blocking his view of Kyogre. Archie looked right through him. Okay, how about this?

Maxie slapped Archie across the face, as hard as he could. Nothing. He didn’t even blink. But now that that though crossed his mind, Maxie noticed that Archie’s eyes were starting to water. 

Gold light started to creep its into Archie’s hands. Maxie grabbed the one that wasn’t holding the orb, hoping that in some way, Archie could feel him. Where there was glowing on his skin, it was hot, but the rest of his hand felt cold. Almost too cold. 

Maxie turned to the battle. There was nothing more he could think of to do. If it came down to it, would he risk grabbing the orb to possibly save Archie?

Kyogre let out a huge growl and smacked the water with its tail. Rocks started to fall from the ceiling, and Maxie subconsciously clung closer to Archie.

Another huge hit on Kyogre, and the glowing orange shot a few centimetres up Archie’s arm. 

“It’s working… It’s working! Keep going!” Maxie shouted. The pokemon doubled their efforts. They weren’t looking in the best shape themselves, but every one of them were giving it their all.

“Hang in there Archie. Just a little more.”

The battle raged on, and Maxie kept an eye on Archie’s progress. The weaker Kyogre got, the more the orange light traveled. But the longer the battle raged, the worst off Archie was looking. He was outright shaking now. The knuckles on his hands were white with how strongly he was grasping the orb and Maxie’s hand. He was covered in a layer of sweat, gasping for breath.

It would be close.

“Guys, hurry up! I’m not sure how much longer he can do this!” The pokemon were all panting for breath, covered in scars and bruises. At some point they had created a rotation pattern, so some could rest while others fought. Now, they glanced at Archie and all jumped back into the fight with renewed energy. 

Kyogre had stopped fighting at this point. It was lying in the pool, unable to stop the onslaught of pokemon. 

“You’re gonna make it, Archie,” Maxie said quietly. “You’re going to be the first human to absorb Kyogre. The first human with a pokemon’s power.”

Kyogre let out a pitiful, long noise that sent shivers down Maxie’s spine. It knew it was dying.

“I wonder what that’ll mean?” Maxie continued, mostly to hear his own voice and calm himself down. “I was going to do it with Groudon, but I never knew the consequences. What would happen if I died afterwards? Would there be no pokemon in charge of the land? Or would I be able to die? Legendaries are meant to be immortal unless killed, aren’t they? I wonder if that’ll transfer to you.”

The golden light on Kyogre flickered, then started to fail, starting at the tail and moving upward. The light on Archie intensified, and it started traveling up onto his face.

This is it. Didn’t even know what he was doing and he managed to do it before me, Maxie thought, but lacking the bitterness he wanted the thought to have. He held his breath, waiting to see if Archie would survive. 

As the last of Kyogre’s light faded, Archie’s light reached his eyes, which turned black and gold, before his whole body returned to normal and he collapsed.

“Archie!”

Maxie flipped him onto his back, and saw the empty, black orb roll out of his hand. Archie blinked his eyes open, took a great breath, then passed out. In a panic, Maxie reached for his neck and checked his pulse. Weak, but there.

Maxie sighed, feeling the tension he had experienced throughout these past few hours slip away. He felt tired. He looked up and saw the pokemon walking towards them, all with worried expressions. Maxie gave them a smile to let them know everything was all right, and they happily hobbled over. 

Maxie lied his head down on Archie’s chest, and felt the pokemon do the same. Sharpedo snuggled right up to Archie’s face and gave a worried, questioning sound too Maxie. “Your trainer’s an idiot,” Maxie said, which calmed Sharpedo. If Maxie was acting normally, Archie must be safe.


	2. Chapter 2

Maxie woke to the noise of many worried pokemon. He opened his eyes to glare at the group, who were standing a few feet away, huddled together. “Must you wake me?”

Camerupt huffed, and Maxie only then realized that the man beneath him was moving.

Maxie looked down. Archie was glowing again, and tossing back and forth like he would if he had a fever, or was having a terrible nightmare. “Archie? Hey, wake up!” Maxie shook him. It took a lot of shaking, but finally, Archie’s eyes snapped open and he sat up so fast that Maxie barely managed to get out of the way before being smacked in the face.

“Archie?” He was panting, looking down at his shaking hands. “Archie?” He closed his eyes and swallowed.

“Archie?” Maxie whispered, lifting his hand to touch his shoulder before thinking better of it. 

Archie turned to him. His eyes were black and gold, animalistic. Maxie felt something inside of him yelling at him, telling him to ‘run, this is wrong, unnatural, get away.’ Maxie forced those feelings away. Archie looked panicked. “Archie, are you okay?”

Archie opened his mouth, but no words came out. He paused, and tried again. Again no words, but he suddenly flipped onto his hands and knees and vomited. 

Maxie drew back to avoid getting any on himself, then lightly started to rub Archie’s back. He was shaking again.

Archie gasped for breath between vomits, and began to cough. Maxie looked down and noticed blood. Not good. Not good at all. 

The pokemon suddenly raised their ears towards what was the entrance to the room, before the fight had collapsed the door. Was that a noise he heard, or was he loosing his mind? It would be much easier to tell if Archie would just be quiet.

“I’ll be back,” Maxie promised, and got up to check it out. Sure enough, he heard some people on the other side. “Hello!?”

“Archie!?”

“Maxie!”

“Hey, watch out!”

“Maxie, are you okay?”

“Is Archie okay?

Maxie recognized the voices as the admins of both teams. “I’m fine, Tabitha -“

“Is Archie okay!?”

Maxie hesitated and looked over to Archie, who had stopped vomiting and was now panting and letting off pitiful sounds. 

“Hey! Is Archie okay!?” That was Shelly, Maxie realized. A very panicked Shelly. 

“He’s… alive,” Maxie said.

“Oh Arceus, is he hurt? We have to get in there -“

“No, calm down,” Maxie said, slipping into his leader-like attitude. “If you try to just force your way in you might cause this whole cavern to collapse. Archie is fine, he’ll manage.” If he doesn’t dye of shock, Maxie thought as he looked back at Archie.

“Is he hurt?”

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, and I’m pretty sure Archie is fine as well. I think most of the damage is psychological.”

“We’re working on getting you guys out,” Courtney said. “But it might be a while. Our team is split right now; there’s a lot going on on the surface.”

“Aqua’s being chased down by the police,” Shelly said. “Mat’s getting everyone back to the base as quickly as possible, so your team’s been doing damage control for us.”

“That’s good to hear,” Maxie said. He was actually really proud that they had started to help out with their own initiative. Especially considering they were helping Aqua, of all teams. But he was happy that they had decided to help even without being told. 

“Courtney and I sill stay down here,” Shelly said.

“We’re working on opening an entrance without destroying the structural integrity of the chamber,” Courtney confirmed.

“I’m heading back to the surface to help out,” Tabitha said.

“Yes, they need a leader right now,” Maxie agreed. “You’re good with people, Tabitha. Use that to your advantage. Get everyone to safety.”

“Will do, boss!”

And with that being said, Maxie excused himself and returned to Archie, who had calmed down somewhat. He was leaning against some rocks, staring at the other side of the cave, obviously trying not to see the glowing lines on his skin. 

Maxie sat beside him, and the pokemon joined in. Sharpedo sat in Archie’s lap, and Maxie smiled as Camerupt tried to climb onto himself. “You okay?” Maxie asked. He was hoping that being as nonchalant as possible would help Archie to not panic.

Archie swallowed, and opened his mouth. Maxie waited, and after a few seconds, Archie half whispered in a broken voice, “What happened?”

At this Maxie hesitated. He honestly believed that Archie wasn’t stable yet, and could absolutely die of shock. But lying wouldn’t be good, either.

He must have stayed silent too long, because Archie finally turned and looked him in the eyes. The whites were white again, but his eyes were now a beautiful gold, and they seemed to swirl with unused energy. Maxie found himself studying them intensely, noticing the colour changes as they got closer to the pupil. There were little spheres of colour swirling around, almost like there was glitter in them. 

“Maxie?”

It was so quiet, but it was enough to snap Maxie back to reality. “What? Oh, sorry. Yes, well…” Well…. now or never. “I believe you may have absorbed Kyogre’s power.”

Archie kept staring, and as time went on Maxie began to feel uncomfortable. He found himself fidgeting, something that he rarely found himself doing anymore. He even realized that every few seconds he’s glance around the cave before looking back at Archie. He just couldn’t seem to retain eye contact for more than a few moments. 

What felt like an eternity later, Archie finally broke his trance by blinking. He took a deep breath and leaned against the cave wall. A few seconds later, he raised his hands and began inspecting them. They weren’t glowing anymore - nothing was. If it hadn’t been for his eyes, anyone looking at Archie wouldn’t think twice about how he looked. 

But Archie had seen his hands glow. Maxie could see the gears turning in Archie’s head. He probably had a million questions. And hell, Maxie didn’t have all the answers. He knew he didn’t. But he decided then and there that any question he did have the answer to, he would answer. Forget their rivalry, Archie just absorbed an actual God. 

“How?”

And it starts, Maxie thought. “The orbs have the power to absorb Kyogre and/or Groudon’s power and give it to whoever is holding it at the time. I’m not sure how, but that’s what they do.”

“What does - What does that mean?”

Maxie shrugged. “I think that means you’re the new ‘king of the ocean’ or whatever.” Silence. “Congratulations on the promotion,” Maxie said, hoping that a joke would lighten the mood. He didn’t do jokes often, so it came as no big surprise that Archie gave no response.

Archie glanced at the pool of water, where Kyogre’s back still stuck out of the water. “What about Kyogre? Are they…?”

Maxie leaned past Archie to see Kyogre better. They hadn’t moved since Archie had absorbed their life energy. “Dead, probably,” Maxie said.

Archie sat back again and ran his hands through his hair. “… I killed Kyogre….”

“…. Are you okay?”

Archie leaned on his legs and stared at the mostly submerged body of Kyogre. Maxie couldn’t see his face, but decided to let Archie have some time to think things over. He started caressing Camerupt’s soft face. Camerupt was a lot like a cat, and loved to gently bump heads with Maxie. After doing so a few times, Camerupt sat down and rested his head on Maxie’s leg, and Maxie ran his hands through their hair.

A few minutes later, Maxie noticed Archie moving and making little noises. He wasn’t sure if Archie was laughing or crying, so he hesitated before asking. “Archie? Are you okay?” Archie got louder and moved more. Maxie still couldn’t tell what it was.

Finally Archie turned away from Kyogre and leaned against the wall again. There were tears in his eyes, but he seemed to be laughing, too. Hysteria. Not good, Maxie thought.

“What the hell did I do?” Archie asked. 

“Oh, calm down,” Maxie snapped, deciding that the best way to break Archie out of it was to make him annoyed, since Maxie was so good at that. Anything to get his mind off of how panicked he was. “You’re overreacting.”

“Overreacting!?” Archie snapped. “I just killed Kyogre! I just absorbed their power! What the hell Maxie!?”

“Well you don’t have to rub in in,” Maxie said, folding his arms. “Just because you beat me to it,” He muttered under his breath.

“Beat you to it? Were you going to do this with Groudon!?”

Maxie raised an eyebrow. “Of course.”

“Are you crazy!?”

“Well I thought I might be, but seeing as you survived I now know it’s possible. That definitely puts my nerves at ease.”

Archie just stared.

“What?”

“You’re not kidding,” Archie realized. “You were actually going to absorb Groudon….”

“Were?” Maxie asked. 

Archie shook his head. “You’re crazy.”

“How so?”

“I barely survived!” Archie gestured widely. “Maxie, that was the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced! I think I may have actually died at some point! There’s no way you -“

“No way I what!?” Maxie cut in. Maxie saw Archie’s eyes quickly look down then back up, taking Maxie in. “Just because I’m not as big or physically as strong as you, you think I can’t handle it!?”

Archie sighed. “Maxie -“ He never got to finish the sentence - he started coughing furiously. Maxie saw flecks of blood fly out. “Arceus,” Maxie muttered, and started lightly scratching Archie’s back. Between coughs he would gag, and occasionally spit out blood. It went on for a few minutes, and when it was over Archie was left panting, head still faced down in case it started up again. 

“Is it - do you know if it’s coming from your throat? Or your lungs? Or…?”

Archie shook his head. Maxie sighed. There was nothing he could do stuck in here. Idealy, they’d already be at Magma’s base, running tests. They’d have something there to ease the coughing at least, assuming they couldn’t find out how to stop it right away. 

But no, here they were, stuck in a cave in the middle of the ocean, leagues underwater. Maxie started to feel as though he were having a hard time breathing, even though he had had no trouble before. He shook his head to try to stop thinking about it. “We’ll be out soon, then we can figure this out,” Maxie said.

“Out?” Archie asked. He glanced at the entrance for the first time, and noticed it was collapsed. Maxie felt his stiffen under his hand. “We’re stuck, Max.”

“Shelly and Courtney are on the other side, they’re working on getting us out.” Max? Maxie though. Archie had never called him that before. In fact, Maxie couldn’t remember the last person he had allowed to call him that. It caught him off guard.

“Are they?”

“Yes,” Maxie said, continuing to scratch Archie’s back. “I was talking to them earlier. Tabitha and Matt are working on the surface to get your team to safety and clean the mess left behind.”

Archie nodded, but didn’t change positions. Every now and then he would spit again, but each time there was less blood. That was reassuring, at least. 

“Feeling better?” Maxie asked when Archie had stopped.

He nodded again, then looked up at the entrance again. “There’s no way they can get through that before we starve or die from dehydration,” Archie said in the most depressing tone Maxie had ever heard him use. 

Maxie rolled his eyes. “That’s ridiculous. They’ll get to us.”


	3. Chapter 3

Despite that, what seemed like hours droned on, and there was no apparent progress being made. Finally Maxie was starting to get annoyed, and walked to the hole where he had talked to the admins before. 

“Hey, you guys out there?”

“Maxie?” Courtney asked.

“Courtney, brilliant. What’s happening? Give me a status report.”

“We’ve managed to retrieve most of the Aqua team. A few have been apprehended, and even fewer are unaccounted for,” Courtney said. 

“Okay, good. We can deal with the arrested ones later,” Maxie said.

“As for clean up, it’s going to take a while. An estimated 20-30 days for the worst of it. Rebuilding homes will be a big time consumer. Sootopolis got the worst of it. The entire city will have to be re-built. We estimate at least a year for that.”

Maxie cringed, but nodded. He had assumed that the city would be completely whipped out. There was some part of him that had hoped it wouldn’t be that bad, though. 

“We haven’t calculated costs yet, but it will be a lot,” Courtney continued. “We’re hopeful that the government will help pay for most of it.”

“What about progress on getting us out?” Maxie asked.

The silence that followed spoke volumes.

“We… have not yet found a suitable location to start excavation. The entire cave system is on the brink of collapsing. Any attempt will set it tumbling down.”

Maxie sighed. “Estimation on our chances of getting out of here?” Maxie asked much quieter. Archie was at the other side of the cave. Luckily water was trickling in through many holes in the walls and roof, helping to block noise. Archie was panicked enough as it was.

“…. Not good, sir,” Courtney admitted. “I’d say 22% chance of getting you guys out before….”

“Yes, okay,” Maxie said so she didn’t have to finish. “Okay….”

“Sir?”

“Yes?”

“I’m not…. What do you want us to do it we are unable to find a way in?”

Courtney was always one for statistics and backup plans, and probabilities. Maxie only realized now that she hadn’t asked the first time they had talked. That should have been a big red flag. But he was so focused on Archie….

“Leave.”

“Sir?”

“Courtney, if we ever stop answering you, just leave. Like you said, this cave can collapse at any moment. It would be foolish of you to risk your own life if we’re already dea-“

“Maxie!”

Maxie could probably count the amount of times Courtney had called him by name on one hand. It was a rare occurrence. She was always so formal, and even in private, when she would let her guard down around Maxie and Tabitha, she would keep up the “sir” act.

So, Maxie smiled, even though he knew Courtney couldn’t see it, and softened his voice. “Courtney, you’ve been an amazing admin, and an amazing friend.”

“Sir-“

“And if it comes down to it, I can always count on you. So I want you to follow these last two orders.”

“Two, sir?”

“The first is leave, of course. The second only applies if the first one does…. If we die, Courtney,” Maxie heard a muffled sob on the other side of the wall. “I need you to find everything I’ve filed under ‘FO-4768366’”

“FO-4768366,” Courtney repeated in a strained voice. Maxie knew that she was writing it down.

“Exactly. I need you to find every file with that label - every. single. one. And any file that’s related to that in any way at all,” Maxie continued. “And Courtney, this is very important. I need you to destroy them.”

“Destroy them?”

“Yes,” Maxie replied. “Every single one. And Courtney, I need you to swear you won’t look at the contents.”

“Sir, may I ask why?” Courtney asked.

“Courtney please,” Maxie said, and something in his tone must have made her stop. “Just, trust me. After seeing what happened with Archie,” he said, glancing over and seeing the man petting the mightyenas. “…. That information has to be destroyed. This can never happen again.”

“But sir, didn’t you want to capture Groudon for the greater good?”

That was never the plan, Maxie thought. “Courtney, you’ve seen what Kyogre did, and they were only awake for a few hours, at most. No matter how beneficial the outcome of catching Groudon could be, it’s just not worth it.”

“…. Understood, sir.”

“Courtney, promise me you won’t look at the files,” Maxie said again.

“Sir, why is it so important that I not look?”

Maxie sighed. He hated lying, but he was good at half truths. “They contain information I haven’t told any of you. Information vital in the resurrection of Groudon. I specifically kept you all in the dark, and I want it to stay that way. If anyone else got the idea to resurrect Groudon, you’d be unable to help them - willingly or not - in that project, if you didn’t know.”

“…. That’s…. That’s very thoughtful, sir,” Courtney said. 

They sat in silence for a while, the only sound the rushing water and the noises of the pokemon with Archie.

“How’s Archie?” Courtney asked.

“He’s… fine,” Maxie said.

“You’ve been very weird about what you say about him,” Courtney pointed out. “Is he actually okay?”

“Honestly?” Maxie said, watching him half heartedly pet the pokemon. “If we do get out of here, he won’t be the same. I don’t think he ever could be the same.”

“Is he injured?”

“No,” Maxie said, and decided to elaborate. “He’s very… Turning Kyogre primal takes far more energy than mega evolution,” Maxie went with. “He’s been spaced out, and… well, he’s coughing up blood.” Might as well be honest about that part, Maxie decided. Give as much real information as he could without telling the truth.

“Oh… that’s not good,” Courtney said.

“Yeah,” Maxie agreed. “It comes and goes, but it’s definitely not good.”

Maxie and Courtney continued to talk for a while about other things, trying to ignore the looming shadow of probable death that awaited them. Eventually, Maxie sent Courtney off to eat, and Maxie returned to find Archie had fallen asleep on his camerupt, with the others all clustered around him in a comfy pile.

Even Maxie had to admit that that was cute.

————

Archie and Maxie and all the pokemon woke at the same time, when an earthquake shook the cave. Rocks fell from the ceiling, and the two humans raised their arms to cover themselves. Not that it would help, some of the boulders were bigger than a koffing. 

When it started to calm down, Maxie heard screaming on the other side of the wall. 

“Maxie!”

“Archie!”

“Courtney? Shelly?”

“What’s happening!” Archie yelled.

“Archie! Oh, thank Arceus, you’re actually okay!”

Maxie huffed. “Did you think I would lie about that!?”

“Well, if it would get you out of there faster,” Shelly started.

“An earthquake compromised the cave system,” Courtney said. “Whole pieces of walls have collapsed. The place is flooding.”

“Can you guys look around from the inside? See if the earthquake opened up a place big enough to go through?” Shelly asked.

Now, with Archie finally up and moving, and seemingly having forgotten about his shock, the two searched the wall. With every passing minute the water was rising. “I can’t see a way through other than here,” Archie said, gesturing to a small hole in the wall. 

“We can’t enlarge that, it’s holding the ceiling up,” Maxie said. “Keep looking!”

More time passed, and the water had risen to their waists. Archie had taken to diving under to try and find any way out. Maxie decided to quit.

“Courtney, there’s no way out,” Maxie said. 

“Keep looking, sir! There’s got to be!”

“Courtney.”

“Hey lava nerd, we’re not leaving without you guys!” Shelly snapped. 

“Yes, you are,” Maxie stated. He pulled out his poke balls and called back his pokemon. “Courtney, take them with you,” Maxie said, slipping the balls through the small hole they had found. 

“We can try to enlarge this hole,” she started.

“That’s not going to work and you know it,” Maxie snapped. “Archie!”

Archie popped out of the water. “Yeah?”

“Give them your pokemon,” Maxie ordered.

Archie took a moment to register the scene - the rising water, his pokemon standing soaked in the water, Maxie’s defeated posture and lack of pokemon.

“We’re giving up?”

“No, we’re not!” Shelly said.

“Don’t be stupid!” Maxie snapped back. “We’re not getting out of here and you know it. Don’t get yourself killed in the process.

“Listen here you little -“

“He’s right,” Archie cut in. 

“Wha - Are you serious!?”

“Yeah,” Archie said, standing up and calling back his pokemon. He saved Sharpedo for last, giving him a nice pat on the head. “I know you can breath underwater buddy, but this might be your only way out of the cave.”

Archie passed all his pokemon through the hole, and Shelly collected them.

“We can’t just leave you!” Shelly cried.

“Come on,” Courtney said.

“No!”

“Shelly,” Archie said. “Look mate, I messed up. I messed up bad. So I need you fix it for me, and you can’t do that dead.”

“But Archie!”

“Just go,” Archie said. “Take care of Sharpedo for me.”


	4. Chapter 4

They could hear Shelly’s cries and protests as Courtney brought her back to the submarine. The water was still rising. Maxie sighed. “This has got to be some cruel trick of the universe. ‘The great Maxie, who planned on absorbing the God of Land, drowns to death.’ Absolutely hilarious.”

“More than ‘the guy that absorbed Kyogre drowns to death?’” Archie asked, swimming gracefully to where Maxie was standing.

“Hmmmm, fair point,” Maxie said. “Although I’m not convinced that you’ll die here at all.”

“What do you mean?” Archie asked. “We’re literally trapped here together. We’re both going to die.”

“You’re the new God of the Ocean, Archie. I’d be very surprised if you couldn’t breath underwater now.”

Archie suddenly realized that Maxie might be right. When he was searching for a way out underwater, he hadn’t had to come up for breath at all. He was good at holding his breath, but even he had a limit. And with all of that ‘find a way out or we die’ adrenaline, he should have run out of air much faster than usual. And yet, he had only come up when he heard Maxie call his name.

“Yeah, I guess I can,” Archie said. An idea was forming in his head, but he pushed it aside for now. “But I’d probably starve to death, then. It’s just a slower death.”

“Do Gods need to eat?” Maxie inquired.

“Oh Arceus, I hope so,” Archie said, causing Maxie to raise an inquisitive eyebrow. “If I don’t need to eat or breath I might be stuck here ‘till I die of old age. I don’t want that.”

“Actually, you might not even age now -“

“Stop! Just stop!” Archie cut off.

“…. Sorry. I suppose I’m not helping,” Maxie said, glancing around the cave. 

“It’s fine…. So what are you thinking now?”

Maxie shrugged, crossing his arms. “Deciding what I want to do before I die. At this rate I’ve got at least an hour.”

“An hour? I’d say two, maybe three,” Archie said.

“I’m a horrible swimmer, there’s no way I survive that long,” Maxie pointed out, and started walking towards the glowing pool that Kyogre’s body was lying in. They were completely submerged now, and it was easy to see how grey the once brilliant blue beast had become. The body was starting to blend in with the rocks.

“I’m not just going to sit here and watch you drown, Maxie. I’ll keep you up,” Archie said, following, and feeling his heart drop and freeze as he stared at Kyogre.

“I’m not convinced I want to last that long,” Maxie stated.

“What?”

“Well it’s inevitable at this point. Might as well get it over with. Like a bandaid, and all that.”

Archie shook his head. “Maxie -“

“Anything you want to do?” Maxie asked. “On the off chance you die with me?”

“I… don’t know,” Archie said, glancing around the cave.

It was a pretty big chamber, but with rock formations scattered all over it felt smaller. The pool where Kyogre had emerged was still glowing, but with each minute the water rose, and the glow faded below the water. In its place, a blue/green moss began to pleasantly glow. It wasn’t enough to illuminate the cave, but it clearly stated where the walls and ceiling were. In other circumstances, Archie would have loved to study that moss. 

The water was up to Maxie’s chest now, and he was having a harder time breathing. “I’d like to do something before I go,” Maxie said. “Brainstorm for me, will you?”

“Well,” Archie started. “Why don’t I teach you to swim?”

Maxie turned to look at Archie as though he only now noticed the man had an extra head. “Are you serious?”

“Got any other ideas?” Archie countered.

“Stand still and wait for the water to rise,” Maxie countered.

“Don’t be silly, Maxie,” Archie teased. Somehow ’silly’ was more offensive than ‘stupid’, and Archie could see Maxie glaring at him with what little light was left. “Come on, it’ll pass the time.”

Maxie sighed. “Fine, whatever.”

Archie grined. “Great! Take off your coat.”

“Excuse me?” Maxie asked, take aback.

“That thing’s way too heavy, and it’ll cause too much drag.”

“I’m not doing that,” Maxie said. 

“Come on, no one will see. Do it for me?” Archie asked sweetly.

In any other circumstance, Maxie would have hated the tone. As it was, he was only mildly irritated. He was right. Who cared? no one would see. Maxie sighed and waddled over to one of the rocks that were still sticking out of the water. He took off his coat and, after a moment’s consideration, his vest as well. “Okay, now what?” Maxie asked, wadding back to Archie. The water was almost up to his neck at this point.

“Take your feet off the floor,” Archie instructed.

“And I sink to the bottom,” Maxie said, glaring at what he assumed was Archie. He was really only a shape now - a shadow moving in front of the glowing moss. 

“No, you float. Here,” Maxie flinched back as he felt Archie’s hands touch him, but then let the man grab his arms at the elbow. “Okay, lower yourself down to like, your chin, then let your feet go. Keep your arms stiff and I’ll hold you up.”

Every part of Maxie was telling him not to do this. His rational mind told him that he didn’t know how to swim, and in the dark with your worst enemy-turned-ocean-god wasn’t the best place to learn. The part of his mind that had feuded with Archie for so long told him not to trust Archie. Especially in the water, in the dark, where he could probably drown Maxie with a flick of his wrist and a few minutes of holding his head under. The animalistic part of his brain told him that this was stupid. He didn’t know how to swim, and this could kill him. 

Maxie pushed all those aside, throwing the thought of, “I’m dying anyway, who cares if it’s now or in a few minutes? Because of Archie or because I couldn’t keep my own head up?”

Maxie lowered himself down, and when he felt he was at the right height, let his feet out from under him. His whole body tensed, waiting to fall under. He felt Archie’s arms tense as well, and realized he was being held up. “See? Not so bad, eh?”

“You’re literally just holding me up, how is this swimming?” Maxie retorted with a bitter voice, trying to hide how panicked he honestly felt. Not that it mattered, Archie could probably feel his arms shaking.

“Here,” Archie said, and started walking backwards. Maxie gave an undignified yelp, and began to struggle. “Don’t move,” said Archie. “Just let yourself float.”

Maxie took a deep breath and forced himself to do that. His whole body was stiff, but he wasn’t struggling anymore, and Archie was able to easily bring him around the cave. “Relax Maxie, you’re fine,” Archie said when they got back to where they started and Maxie was still rigid.

Maxie took another deep breath and forced himself to relax a bit. It was mostly his lower body that did, as his arms were still holding Archie’s. This time around the cave was more enjoyable, but Maxie’s arms were getting tired. “Okay, I think I’m good for now,” Maxie commented.

Archie stopped and let momentum bring Maxie’s legs back under him. Maxie let go, ready to get his coat back to help with the chill of the water, when he plunged under. Within a moment, Archie had grabbed his upper arm and pulled him back up. Maxie was gasping for breath, and twisted to cling to Archie. “What the hell!?”

“Water rose while we were swimming. Sorry, I forgot you were so short,” Archie said, holding Maxie close to him protectively.

Maxie scoffed. “That’s not - I don’t - Listen -“

“Yeah?”

Even without seeing, Maxie could hear the smirk in Archie’s voice. “Shut up!”

Archie laughed. “Keep swimming, then? You were doing pretty good.”

“I absolutely was not! You were doing all the work.”

“Then you do some work this time,” Archie said. 

“How? I have no idea what I’m doing, Archie,” Maxie pointed out.

Archie gently pried on of Maxie’s arms from around himself and turned Maxie around in his arms. For a moment Maxie struggled, then Archie regained his grip and said, “Don’t worry, I gotcha,” as he finished turning Maxie around so they faced the same direction. 

Archie pushed himself off the cave floor. The water was basically too high to touch bottom now, anyway. 

He held Maxie to himself with his one arm around the man’s torso, and held his wrist with the other. Archie was moving them forward with little kicks - just enough to keep them above the surface and moving forward.

“Okay, in general you lightly kick your feet and move your arms like this,” he said, waving Maxie’ arm in a half circle from front to back, moving them forward. He felt Maxie begin to kick his legs as well - at first too quickly and randomly to be of any use, but eventually syncing up with Archie’s lazy kicks. Once he had that down, he started copying the arm movement with his free arm, and eventually had that, too.

“Think you can go on your own?” Archie asked in Maxie’s ear. He felt the man shiver beneath him. Maybe it was cruel to ask the man who could probably bathe in lava to take off his coat. Even Archie had to admit it was a little cold.

“I don’t know,” Maxie admitted.

“I’ll follow right beside you,” Archie said, slowly letting go of Maxie and letting the man go by himself. 

And swim by himself he did. It was nothing elegant, but it was swimming, and Maxie felt a sense of accomplishment wash over him. 

“See! You can totally swim!” Archie said, flawlessly moving in front of Maxie and swimming backwards in front of him while facing him. 

Maxie could see his face now, though only a little. They were close to the ceiling - if Maxie had the confidence to do so, he could have raised his arm and touched the glowing moss above his head.

“Yeah, right in time, too.” he said, which must have made Archie realize how close to the ceiling they were, because his smile dropped. He quickly replaced it, but it wasn’t the same, genuine smile he’d had a moment ago.

“Even in your last moments you’re trying ta learn and improve yourself,” Archie said.

“What’s the point in life otherwise?” Maxie asked.

“… We’ve still got a few minutes left,” Archie pointed out. “Is there anything else you wanted to do? Any final wishes?”

“Stop me,” Maxie said, and Archie grabbed him so that he could stop swimming for a moment. Maxie took his time regaining his breath, trying to think of anything else he wanted to do. There wasn’t much, stuck in this cave. But…

“Archie?”

“Yeah?”

They were being quiet, almost whispering. For some reason, neither wanted to break the peacefulness of the moment.

“Could you…? Um….” Maxie began. Archie was curious to hear the request - there wasn’t much that could make ‘the great Maxie’ stammer. 

Maxie tried again. “Would you mind, if we - if I - um….”

“What?” Archie asked when Maxie trailed off.

There was about a head between the tops of their heads and the ceiling now. Not long left.

Maxie looked directly at Archie. So many years he had though of - and then rejected the thought of…. Would it matter now? He was going to die in a few minutes. What did the outcome matter? And yet, Maxie’s heart was racing.

“Maxie?”

Now or never, Maxie thought. He reached up with one hand and gently cupped Archie’s cheek. “Maxie?” Maxie leaned in, giving Archie plenty of time to pul back - to let go of him and swim away. 

Instead, Maxie’s lips brushed over Archie’s, and after a moment, they both leaned in all the way.

Maxie had had many kisses through his life. Tentative, first kissed. Hot and passionate ones. Lazy morning ones, and goodnight ones. But nothing compared to the raw emotion that flooded through this one. All the years Maxie hadn’t let himself have feeling for Archie… all the nights Maxie’s thoughts drifted to Archie… All those arguments standing a little too close to Archie….

And now, Archie’s arms were wrapped around him, and he was kissing him, and it was brilliant and perfect and horrible. 

“What’s wrong?” Archie said, breaking the kiss. Maxie was sobbing and clinging more tightly to Archie than before. “Maxie?”

Maxie shook his head. “All those years, I….”

“All those years?” Archie asked. So this wasn’t an ‘in the moment’ thing? A ‘this is my final kiss, and you just happen to be the one here to receive it’? Archie had expected that, had accepted that in the moment. But he had never expected….

“All those years…. And now I’m dying! Ha! I’m dying and I finally get to kiss you!” 

“Oh, Maxie,” Archie held him tighter as he cried. His mind flew back through all the memories of Maxie. All the fights, all those times he had turned to see Maxie glaring at him, all those too close arguments where they were way invading each other’s space. All those glances that Archie had never noticed, but looking back… Maxie glancing at his lips during a conversation. A look over Archie’s body, lingering maybe a bit too long. The obvious staring that Archie had assumed was directed at him just because he was Maxie’s rival….

“All this time?”

Maxie was the hysterical one this time, laughing through his tears and nodding. “All this time, you idiot! All this f” hiccup, “all this time….”

They sat in silence for a while as Maxie calmed down. Archie was rubbing little circles on his back. “I’m sorry I never noticed,” Archie finally said. 

“Didn’t want you to,” Maxie replied.

“Why not?”

“Because you’re you!” Maxie said, lifting his head off of Archie’s shoulder and looking him in the eyes. His golden, glowing eyes. They definitely weren’t glowing earlier. “Because you’re you,” Maxie said softer. “And I’m me. And it would have never worked, Archie.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Archie admitted. He was honestly not sure how he would have reacted had they been in any other situation. 

Their heads touched the ceiling.

“Archie! Archie, I don’t want to die,” Maxie admitted, holding on even tighter. “I was trying so hard not to panic but Arceus, I don’t want to die!”

“I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” Archie said. “You shouldn’t have even been down here.”

“Arceus, if I was just a little earlier. If I had just gotten here before Kyogre emerged, we would be….”

“Wait.”

“What?” Maxie asked. “It doesn’t matter now, not unless you happen to own a Celebi you never told me about.”

“No, not that. I’ll be back, you okay on your own for a sec?” Archie asked, trying to pull away from Maxie.

“What? Don’t leave now, you idiot. I saved your life, the least you can do is wait here with me.”

“No, what you said. Kyogre emerged. They were too big to be living in that little pool. There has to be a secret tunnel underneath or something! We can make it to the ocean!” Archie said.

“Well that doesn’t help me at all,” Maxie pointed out, still refusing to let go. “I can’t get out.”

“Maxie, just give me like, thirty seconds. I promise I’ll be back.”

Grudgingly, Maxie let go and started swimming again. He didn’t know how to stay in place yet. Archie dove under, and Maxie looked around for a place where the ceiling might be a bit higher. 

Archie swam down to the pool where Kyogre’s body was still lying. No time to think of that, he thought, as he felt a wave of guilt wash over him. Where’s the tunnel?

It wasn’t too difficult to find. It was huge, and somehow, without even going through it, Archie could sense the ocean beyond it. 

It wasn’t blocked off.

Archie swam back up and popped his head up beside Maxie. Maxie grabbed him again. The water had risen, he had to keep his head tilted back to breath.

“There’s a way out,” Archie said. “We can make it to the ocean, then swim up.”

“Archie, we’re literally leagues underwater. I’ll never make it. Just stay another minute or two….”

“No! Nope, no way, I’m not leaving you.”

“Archie -“

“Maxie, seriously? Do you want to die in a cave? -“

“Honestly yes, but not underwater!”

“When there’s a possibility of living? No matter how small that possibility is?”

Maxie hesitated. 

“Listen, Max. Even if you don’t make it, you’ll have tried. Isn’t that better than giving up?”

Maxie sighed. There was practically no room left to breath. “Okay. Okay, what are we doing? How do we do this?”

“Just wrap your arms and legs around me and don’t let go. I’ll swim us out,” Archie said, turning around and letting Maxie cling to his back. 

Maxie held on, perhaps a bit too tightly. “Okay, let’s go,” he said. 

Archie dove under.

Maxie held his breath and shut his eyes tightly. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t breath, all he could feel was the cold water flying past him, and Archie moving beneath him. Maxie wondered how long he could last. He knew he would never be able to hold his breath long enough - no one could. It just wasn’t possible. But his mind wouldn’t let him let go of the nagging hope. Maybe it’s not really as deep as he thought. Maybe Archie was fast enough. Maybe he could hold his breath longer than he thought. Maybe….

He felt Archie shift, and start to swim in another direction. Up? 

Maxie’s lungs were burning. He was fighting every instinct that told him to exhale and take in new air. There wouldn’t be any…. 

Never again.

A few bubbles left Maxie’s nose as he couldn’t hold back for a moment. His head was spinning, and he somehow felt black dots appearing in his vision despite his eyes already being closed. 

More air slipped out. Maxie held on to Archie a little tighter. How much longer?

Maxie was so light headed. He knew they probably weren’t even a quarter of the way there. May as well just give in to darkness. 

Maxie let the rest of the air out, and inhaled the ocean.

It wasn’t as bad as he thought. He didn’t start coughing instantly, like he thought. His head got clearer for a moment. But when his body registered that the water wasn’t oxygen, it started spinning again. The salt stung his throat, stung his lungs. He exhaled, and inhaled again. His limbs were cold, he couldn’t move them anymore, and felt himself slipping. He couldn’t hold on to Archie anymore. 

His chest felt cold. His mind felt floaty. He couldn’t move, but felt himself sinking. This is it…. Huh…. Not sure what I was expecting. He felt himself falling asleep. Asleep forever.

Then, he felt Archie grab him, and that was it.


	5. Chapter 5

Archie broke the surface of the water. “Maxie!”  
  
He held Maxie’s head above the water, above the waves. No answer.   
  
Nothing….  
  
“No. No no no no,” Archie panicked. He knew - he had known that the chances of Maxie surviving were one in a million. But somehow he had been confident Maxie would be fine. And now here he was, limp in Archie’s arms, not breathing.   
  
Archie was sad. He was sad, he was confused, he was lost in the middle of the ocean, with the power of Kyogre….  
  
He was mad.  
  
He was so mad. He was mad at himself, for trying to capture Kyogre in the first place. Mad at the people and companies that destroy the ocean, that had lead him to take such drastic measures. He was mad at the old couple for not telling him about the orbs. He was mad at whoever made the orbs in the first place. He was mad at his team for following his stupid decisions. He was mad at Shelly, for telling him not to do it but not actually stopping him. He was mad at Maxie.  
  
Stupid Maxie, who didn’t tell him about the orbs. Who was going to absorb Groudon. Who was planning on destroying the ocean. Whose information Aqua stole to learn about the orbs. Who didn’t bother warning Archie about the orbs. Whose team wasn’t able to stop Archie’s. Who ran down to stop him. Had risked his own life and those of his pokemon to fight Kyogre. Who had helped him survive the absorbing process. Who had thought of a way to save both of their pokemon. Who had been mean and horrible all those years only half because of their opposing goals, and half because he liked him. Who had, in his last few moments, kissed Archie like it meant the world to him. Who had grabbed him and held him like Archie might be able to actually save him. Who had died in his arms….  
  
Archie didn’t even realize he was crying. He was crying, and holding Maxie way too tight, and grinding his teeth much harder than he should, and internally yelling at every event and person that had lead to this.  
  
And the ocean was raging with him. Waves big enough to topple cruise ships, rain hard enough to blind someone, winds fast enough to knock helicopters out of the sky….  
  
Archie didn’t care.  
  
Why should he care? In, what was it? Two, three days? His life had completely turned around. He had managed to kill both Kyogre and Maxie, and who knows how many others. All the people who had followed him, who had helped him try to achieve his dream… on the run, arrested, hiding….  
  
Archie berried his head in Maxie’s hair, as though that would somehow help him. Even the motion of the waves, which had always soothed him, couldn’t calm him down. He just wanted it to be over. To wake up and realize this was all some horrible nightmare. That no one was dead, that he was still just Archie, and not the new Kyogre. He wanted to wake up and go spoil some Magma plan, and watch the grunts fight like they always do. Then, after news had reached the rest of the team, Maxie would show up, all scowling, with his hands behind his back like he was better than everyone else. And they would argue - far too closely… - and Maxie’s cool composer would break and he’d start yelling. And Archie would smile, because he broke through Maxie’s professionalism.   
  
And…. And that was gone, now. He would never see Maxie again. He’d never see his team casually messing with Magma’s affaires again. He’d probably never be able to wake in his own home again.  
  
He had nowhere to go, nothing to do, no one….  
  
So, he cried. He cried, and mentally sent apologies to Shelly and Matt, to all the Aqua team, even to Magma and their admins. They’d never see Maxie again.  
  
Did Maxie have family?   
  
Archie shook his head. He didn’t know. He didn’t want to know. He just wanted to sit here - hold Maxie and cry until he drowned in his own tears, or the pouring rain, or just died of sadness and anger.  
  
He didn’t even notice the yellow glowing form approaching until it was right in front of him, and touched his forehead.   
  
_You are one of us, now._  
  
The voice echoed in his head, soothing, calming.  
  
Archie looked up. A star pokemon was staring at him. Bright, yellow, childlike. “Jirachi?”  
  
They tilted their head.  _Why are you sad?_   
  
Archie felt another wave of sorrow wash over him. Would he feel like this for the rest of his life? He hoped so. He deserved it.   
  
_You are one of us. Why are you sad?_  
  
They looked down, and jumped back when they saw Maxie.   
  
_Human! Are they asleep? Should we hide?_  
  
“He’s not asleep,” Archie said, his voice cracking.   
  
Jirachi flew off, but noticed neither of them were following, so returned. They flew around, inspecting Maxie, then Archie, who hadn’t realized his whole body was glowing with Kyogre’s marks until that moment. Archie didn’t care. He let himself glow, feeling the power course through him. That must have been what was causing this horrible storm.   
  
“What do you want?” Archie asked the pokemon after they had inspected the two of them several times over.  
  
 _Want?_  
  
“Why are you here?” Archie asked. His anger was fading, and there was just sadness left. The winds and waves calmed, but the rain intensified.   
  
_You are new_ , they stated, as though that answered the question. They smiled, laughed, and started flying in circles and loops. _New! New friend! New legend! I got to say hi first!_  
  
Archie shook his head. “Stop. I don’t want this.”  
  
Jirachi stopped and tilted their head in confusion again. _Why?_  
  
“I don’t - I just don’t!” Archie yelled, holding Maxie tighter again. He wanted to go back to before Jirachi showed up. He wanted the anger back, because the sadness and sorrow was so much worse. But he couldn’t. No matter how hard he tried, he just wanted to cry. So, he did.  
  
 _You’re sad?_ Jirachie asked, and floated closer, being careful not to touch ‘the human.’  
  
“Just leave,” Archie said. He didn’t trust his voice to last much longer, and despite everything he didn’t want to cry in front of this child-like pokemon. They didn’t deserve this…  
  
I _s that what you want?_ Jirachi asked.   
  
What I want? Archie thought. “What I want is Maxie back! I want Maxie, and I want Kyogre, and I want to undo everything I did this week! Hell, my whole life! Just erase it all, the world would be a better place that way!”   
  
Jirachi blinked. _I cannot affect you. You are one of us. I cannot affect time. Dialga is the pokemon of time._  
  
Archie shook his head. He knew. He wasn’t expecting Jirachi to actually do anything. They may have the power of teleportation to grant wishes, but that was it. That was all it was. A cheep trick.   
  
“Just go!” Archie yelled.   
  
Jirachi looked at Archie, crying and alone in the middle of the ocean. And the human in his arms…. No energy….   
  
Suddenly, Jirachi was gone, and Archie was alone again. “I’m just going to sink,” Archie said. “How about that, Maxie? You and me, at the bottom of the ocean for the rest of time…. I wonder if I really can stay underwater forever.”  
  
Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Jirachi was back. But Jirachi wasn’t what Archie was worried about. Right in front of him, a blue pokemon stood on the water. Jirachi flew around, laughing, but Archie was too focused on the pokemon. He couldn’t break eye contact. He could feel the power….  
  
 _You are the new one?_ It asked.  
  
Archie nodded. “I guess so, yeah. Who are you?”  
  
 _It does not matter_ , they said. _We shall meet again. Is this truly your wish?_  
  
“Wish?” Archie asked.   
  
_Yes, yes!_ Jirachi chimed in. _That is his wish!_  
  
What wish!? Archie thought.  
  
 _Very well_ , the pokemon said to Jirachi, then looked back at Archie. They lowered their head down, and without thinking Archie reached up and touched their head. _Remember this favour, when I need one from you._  
  
They lowered their head a bit more, and touched their nose to Maxie…. And nothing happened.  
  
The pokemon rose and looked down at them. “What was that? What did you do?” Archie asked.  
  
The pokemon tilted their head, and then Maxie moved. Archie was taken so off guard he almost dropped him, but grabbed on tight as Maxie started coughing up water. Far too much water. He was basically vomiting it out of his lungs.   
  
_Your wish is complete_ , the pokemon said. _Jirachi, return me home._  
  
Jirachi laughed, and flew around some more, before landing in the pokemon’s beautiful antlers. They waved before teleporting away.  
  
For a minute, Archie stood still. Well, swam still. He was in shock. He didn’t even know what just happened. The only noise around was the last few drops of rain falling, waves crashing against each other, and Maxie, coughing up a lung.   
  
“Maxie!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haven't had the time to write in a while. Don't know why but I'm tired all the time again.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you're interested in more <3


End file.
